


An Answer

by RobNips



Series: Fairgame Week 2020 [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Backstory, Established Relationship, If RT doesn't want to give us Clover's past then I will, Late Night Conversations, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Semblance (RWBY), Vulnerability, but still a bit new
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:53:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23143477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobNips/pseuds/RobNips
Summary: "How,” Clover looked up when Qrow spoke again, looking hesitant as he absentmindedly fiddled with his scroll. “When did you know?”Clover sighed, it was a loaded question. People could say he was born lucky with or without his semblance - but it did not develop with as much ease as people thought.Written for Fairgame Week - SemblanceCan be read as a standalone fic!
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Series: Fairgame Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1663636
Comments: 21
Kudos: 64





	An Answer

**Author's Note:**

> It's Day 1 somewhere, right?  
> Happy Fairgame Week! I'm starting the first day with all about the Best New Boy (imo). Please Enjoy!

Clover let out a low groan as he slid into bed. Call him high maintenance, but he liked his silk sheets. He liked being able to crawl into bed and have soft, comforting bedding to ease him into sleep after a long day. He would appreciate them everytime. 

“Baby.” Even if Qrow would also scoff and roll his eyes everytime. 

He just didn’t know how to enjoy the little things in life. Clover did. 

Clover turned on his back to look at his boyfriend, acting innocent as he carried on with reading something on his scroll. “You were doing the same thing this morning when Vine made us breakfast.”

“That’s not fair.” Qrow scoffed. “He makes great breakfast, but never does it for us. You’ve had the same kind of sheets probably your whole life.” 

“Whatever, hypocrite.” Clover rolled his eyes, but smiled at him. He wriggled to lean against him to see what was on his scroll. It was from Atlas Academy, not the public news cycle. 

“Some kid’s semblance blew a whole in the wall of a history classroom.” Qrow grumbled. 

“Anyone hurt?” 

“Nah, apparently it was a boring class. Tried to make some kind of fireball under the table.” 

Clover shook his head, and sighed. “That’s what happens when we make kids take boring classes.” 

“Ha,” Qrow barked a laugh. “Like you would know, perfect student.” 

“Hey, you were the professor.” Clover chuckled. “School was...easy for me. I had a little extra help though.” He shrugged a shoulder. 

“You sure it wasn’t just your apparent skills?” Qrow teased. 

“Heh, I don’t know.” Clover sighed, and rolled to be on his back again. He stretched his arms out to rest behind his head. “Sometimes I had to look over things for classes, but other times - I just remembered it all.” 

“I bet that made you tons of friends.” Qrow said sardonically. 

“Pah.” People had been asking him how he differentiates his skill from his semblance, and honestly, he didn’t have an answer. He knew when it was one or the other only after it happened. A feeling he couldn’t describe unless in the moment. 

Many semblances were like that, though. Ask anyone how they created fire from thin air, or moved faster than the speed of sound - it was just something they did. It felt natural. 

School - or anything that was based on retaining information - felt natural. 

“There was some jealousy.” Clover hummed. “But I wouldn’t say I had a lot of enemies. I tried to keep it on the down low if I could.” He sighed, memories of his brother flashed in his mind. 

“But you’re open about it now. Confident. How,” Clover looked up when Qrow spoke again, looking hesitant as he absentmindedly fiddled with his scroll. “When did you know?” 

Clover blew out a breath between pursed lips. Qrow had told him how he had always had suspicions about his semblance, but there were defining moments when he _knew_ it was there. After that it had been a slippery slope for him.

Clover couldn’t say he had the same experience, but his semblance didn’t come without occasional drawbacks.

People could say he was born lucky with or without his semblance. His mother managed one of the SDC’s largest mines in Mantle, he was as far away from impoverished as anyone could be. He loved his little brother, his brother had loved him. When his parents weren’t the warmest people, Clover had Beccan to fall back on.

Besides that, there were little things that gave him an advantage. Always managing to be on time, finding anything that was lost, rarely burned any meals - it never had occurred to him how these things don’t happen to everyone.

“I didn’t think too much of it, when I was young.” Clover’s eyes drifted to the ceiling as he started. “When I told people I wanted to be a huntsman, they said I would be great. I managed to be good at everything I tried at. After that I noticed it a lot more, got a little more daring, and,” he shrugged. 

“Wanted to test if it was really you.” Qrow nodded in understanding. 

“Yeah, like that.” Clover sighed. Daring was an understatement. Testing death was closer to the truth. Spelunking, climbing, combat eventually. Whenever Clover was in a bind, he always knew just what to do to get out of it. Where to step, what was stable or unstable, if he could make a jump, land a hit. He started fights and always finished them. He pulled crazy stunts and always landed on his feet. 

His family thought he was a miracle - not including the fighting or the adrenaline chasing - his younger brother especially. He always followed Clover, imitated him, and tried to impress him. Like any little brother would, only turned up to eleven. When Clover announced he was applying to Atlas, Beccan was determined to follow in his steps. 

That ended with one of Clover’s stunts a few months later. 

They were too far out of the city to be safe, that was Clover’s first mistake. His second was letting Becc come out on the ice with him. His third was jumping in after him without even calling for help. They both ended up wet and freezing and almost dead by the time they made it back to Mantle’s boundaries. 

Their parents were furious. Screaming matches about responsibility, stupidity, cockiness and arrogance were numerous. It became apparent to them that Clover’s skill was relying too much on his semblance, the achievements he had made were just a ruse. 

_Luck means nothing if wasted on the brainless._

They almost forced him to rescind his Atlas Academy application. Almost. He was lucky once again in that regard.

It took years for his confidence to be built back up, for him to actively train with his semblance outside of required classes. His family was less than supportive, but in the military he thought he’d found home again. His semblance was embraced as an asset, so Clover thought about it as one again. 

“I just kind of decided it was, and it made itself so.” He sighed, finally looking back to see Qrow looking far away in thought. 

Then he smiled - a forced one - and faced down towards Clover. “Philosophers must love you.” 

Even if it was forced, Clover still snorted. “I don’t worry too much about philosophy, to be honest.” Qrow scoffed, and stretched to turn out their light. He settled into bed against Clover, who wrapped an arm around him. “All this debate about semblances, ‘do they cause you or do you cause them?’ It’s pretty simple.” 

Now Qrow actually laughed at him. “You’ve figured out the oldest question humanity has ever had?” He scoffed again. “I love you, but now you’re being a little too cocky.”

Clover allowed himself a chuckle in response. “Well, I didn’t figure it out. You showed me the answer.”

He could feel Qrow’s frown against his side. “What?”

“You’ve already answered it. If anyone proves that semblances are just what we think of ourselves, and not our true nature, it’s you.” Clover felt himself smiling, visions of Qrow protecting citizens, his nieces, Clover himself, flashed through his mind. “You fight harder than anyone I’ve met to be a good person.”

And it was more than just a protective instinct. Qrow has issues with his own self worth, as was obvious, and he’d do anything to protect his family - but he loves them in a way Clover never could have imagined. 

“You support your kids. Their friends, and you love them. You help them grow, and get stronger, and hone their skills. You want to see them do good.” Clover huffed a laugh, and closed his eyes. His hands ran through Qrow’s hair without him having to think. “And...you’ve let me into that. You’ve given me a family again.”

The kids look up to him in the same way they look up to Qrow. They ask him for advice, training, and to share his experiences. They trust each other, out of more than just necessity. In their rare quiet moments, they get close, show affection, joke, and actually care about one another. 

Clover still denies that he teared up when Ruby called him Uncle for the first time. 

“You’re anything but a curse, even if you think so.” Clover whispered after his long pause. Qrow was quiet, Clover thought for a moment that he might have fallen asleep. This wasn’t an easy topic for him, Clover wouldn’t be surprised if Qrow tried to avoid his praise once again.

After a while, he could feel tears on his chest. Qrow whispered as if telling a secret. “Thank you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Clover had so much backstory potential, and if RT doesn’t want to give it to us, I will create it myself! Let me know your Clover hcs!  
> Fun Fact; when trying to figure out normal “lucky” things for Clover to be used to, I almost put “avoided any truly serious injury” but thought….maybe it’s too soon.  
> Comments are always appreciated, and thank you for reading!  
> Happy kickoff to Fairgame Week!


End file.
